Process color printing has created enormous flexibility and versatility in replicating color systems, such as the Pantone® Matching System and other color systems which provide a library of universally recognized spot colors. A spot color is commonly used to specify a particular color for printing an element on a media, such as a graphic logo, text or a raster images. Spot colors are often produced using custom inks, but a more economical solution is to simulate the spot colors using tint combinations of process inks. In one example, using a six color ink array, a process color mechanism in a digital press can simulate a substantial majority of the spot colors represented by the Pantone® Matching System. However, a variety of factors including the type of media on which the colors are printed, the particular brand or type of process inks (e.g., cyan ink, magenta ink, a custom ink, etc.), and other factors impair an accurate simulation of the spot color by the digital press.
Conventional methods of adjusting the output of a spot color on a printed media include making adjustments to the spot color definition of a raster, text or graphic element prior to submitting a digital file to a digital press. Other conventional adjustment techniques include making an adjustment at the digital press to the output of one or more process color inks, such as cyan ink, magenta ink, yellow ink, black ink, or a custom ink. Unfortunately, adjusting an output of a spot color by adjusting the process color ink affects the printing of both the spot color elements (simulated by the process color inks) and non-spot process color elements formed by the individual process color inks. Accordingly, an improvement in the output of a spot color often comes at the cost of degrading the output of the non-spot colors.